[ SECRET POST #5191 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #5191 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.


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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 31 secrets from Secret Submission Post #743.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

02. https://i.imgur.com/4BUPnri.jpg

[(Anonymous)]

Have you ever found a fando. that was good, consistently and at a broad scale, at dealing with complex character analysis and political and historical issues?

[philstar22]

Tolkien fandom has a good amount.

[(Anonymous)]

Eegh, I haven't interacted with the fandom for several years, but yeah, I guess it was 60-40 for the good stuff, but there were things that also got on my nerves, similar to OP's issues.

[philstar22]

Yes, those issues do exist. Less so in the Silmarillion parts of the fandom than in the LOTR and Hobbit parts that are filled with a lot of movie-only fans, but they do exist. But there is still a decent amount of discussions. Personally I've enjoyed that there is a wide range of things to explore in the fandom and something for everyone.

[(Anonymous)]

Funny because I was 99% of the time in the Silm fandom. There was so much good stuff about geology, astronomy, linguistics etc etc but at some point I got assaulted with a lot of racebending and general stupid shit that left a sour taste in my mouth.

[(Anonymous)]

Yeaah. That's the image I'm starting to get of the fandom too. At least, the online fanworks producing movie oriented part. Notice which characters the fics are overwhelmingly about (if you knew nothing about the source material, whether novel, play or movie, and you went soley by A03 you'd think Enjolras was the main character) and how they're not too interested in other similar themed fandoms unless there's Broadway style music involved.

And faux performative wokeness can lead this subset of fans to forget the message of mercy and forgiveness towrads those who don't deserve it, which is also found in the story alongside the social justice stuff.

[(Anonymous)]

Wait, what's the problem with people being interested in a musical fandom also liking other musicals?

[(Anonymous)]

nayrt but I think ayrt is hinting that a lot of the Les Mis fans, despite their attempts to be (as the secret phrased it) woker-than-thou, aren't actually into it for genuine social consciousness, they're into it because the musical is loud and shiny and dramatic and that's what they really care about

[(Anonymous)]

What? I still don't understand how liking musicals is bad, or surprising, or means that they don't care about social justice

[(Anonymous)]

I think they're saying that, if Les Misérables hadn't been adapted into a musical / movie, the people who like musicals would have never cared about Les Misérables or its themes. But in the age of Wokeness and Cancel Culture, the musical theater crowd fandom, to be seen as something more than a bunch of people who just really like musicals so they're going all-in to score their SJW points. And because their attempts are so vain and shallow, they don't even know what they're talking about because they never really thought about Les Mis's themes and can't critically engage with it.

[(Anonymous)]

I get the part of the argument about how the social justice stuff is fake - obviously that's an argument we've all had many times before, whether you agree with it or disagree with it

I just don't see how it has anything to do with musicals, and I think it's super weird to be snooty about people in what it is, in large part, a musical fandom liking musicals

[(Anonymous)]

also nayrt but I think I read ayrt as saying...pick a book or movie or something that is similar to Les Miserables in terms of heavy social messages and themes (I can't think of one but I'm not as well-read as I'd like to imagine), but has not been made into a broadway musical. Les Mis fans will talk a big game about the messages in Les mis but if you ask if they've compared it to Other Book, they will not know how to engage because it's not a musical and therefore not worth their time.

I don't know how true it is or not, I really don't like Les Mis and I don't like musicals. But I have run into the general vibe before in fandom, over my many ages, it sort of underpins the concept of the migratory slash fandom phenomenon (regardless of how anyone feels about that even being a thing).

[(Anonymous)]

I just want to say... that I love Les Mis. Haven't interacted with it outside of reading the novel, but looking forward to seeing some of the adaptations at some point.

OP have you looked into what academic writing is out there about the book? Maybe that would scratch your itch for serious analysis, IDK. There's got to be something interesting out there!

[(Anonymous)]

I left the fandom a while ago but that sounds like it's changed a lot since I was back in it around the 2009-2014 era? I mean given I was really in it for E/R so tar and feather me for that (lol), but this sounds sadly like a lot of fandoms these days, not just Les Mis.

[(Anonymous)]

A caveat to me being into E/R: My favorite stories to read were the ones that really went into Enjolras' politics, etc, and their diachotomy to R's nihilism (false or no). I find him to be incredibly fascinating and the other Cafe boys bore me as they just aren't...really characters. But I think that's why people really glommned onto them. So I will say I guess I did see parts of what you are talking about in the early days of the movie fandom at least, but I got out before it got bad, I guess.

[(Anonymous)]

Have you considered sitting on (the free open to the public ones) symposiums/conferences on Hugo/this book? Checking out which scholars /professors are conducting research using these books? I know it's not a fandom,but hopefully it is exploring these ideas you're having or want to explore.